Christian Wolfarth percussion

Frantz Loriot - viola
Antoine Chessex - tenorsaxophone
Cédric Piromalli - prepared piano
Christian Wolfarth - percussion

"Der Verboten is a quartet of Frantz Loriot (viola), Antoine Chessex (tenor sax), Christian Wolfarth (percussion, cymbals) and Cédric Piromalli (prepared piano). The session was recorded    Radio France-France Musique at La Filature (Mulhouse, France) during the Meteo - Mulhouse Music festival, on August 27th, 2016. Earlier Loriot and Pormalli worked together under the moniker Treffpunkt, with Mikko Innanen and Christian Weber as partners, later followed by Amercian musicians Sam Kulik (trombone) and Brad Henkel (trumpet) as guests. For this occasion the quartet was named Kaijo, which is Japanese for ´meeting´- After Loriot got invited to be artist in residence for the Mulhouse Music Festival, he decided for a version of this collaboration., this time with Swiss artists Chessex and Wolfarth as guests. The CD has one long extended improvisation of more than 40 minutes, titled ‘Der Dritte Treffpunkt’, the third meeting in English. Improvised music is always about meeting of course and here the musicians who are curious to find out if they can develop an interesting musical story. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. In the case of this set, no doubt, an inspiring musical communication came about. From start one feels they are focused and connected with one other. The improvisation counts different passages or episodes if you want.
Underway the improvisation unfolds in different constellations. Their improvisation is a sound dominated research with a sense for detail and colouring. Built from small gestures that change in dynamic and energy. Sections of intense interplay that move towards a climax are followed by sections that show another face of time. This is an example of very condensed and concentrated group improvisation. Pure beauty if you ask me!"

Dolf Mulder, (Vital Weekly, 1107 November 2017)
 

"Der Verboten is a new version of the partnership between violist Frantz Loriot and pianist Cédric Piromalli originally called Treffpunkt, the German word for “meeting point”. Originally they had the contributions of Mikko Innanen and Christian Weber. When the guests became Sam Kulik and Brad Henkel, the name changed to Kaijo, which is, simply, the term “treffpunkt” in Japanese. Now, with Antoine Chessex and Christian Wolfarth on board, here’s a new name for different music following the same principles: a common sound resulting from distinct perspectives and backgrounds. Improvisation, as a method and a language, is the unifying factor, and the result seems like «the course of a river», as the liner notes written by music curator Fabien Simon state. The content of this album has indeed an aquatic quality – it flows very naturally, always mutating but also always maintaining focus and direction. The music is transparent but compact, moving with a uniformity that seems still, as a living organism formed by collaborative little beings. Like water also, it’s fresh, reconforting and energetic, a special example of the creativity we can find these days in the field we call “improvised music”.